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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26984191">A Light in the Darkness</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reyna_is_epic/pseuds/Biting%20Words'>Biting Words (Reyna_is_epic)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Rise of the Guardians Fusion, Angst, Blight Siblings - Freeform, Bunny!Willow, Character Study, Cupid!Amity, F/F, Fantasy, Light Powers, Luz Noceda Needs a Hug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rise of the Guardians AU, Santa!Eda, Toothfairy!Gus, Trauma, Trickster!Twins, Very Loosely Based, Yeah you read that right, loosely based on the movie, luz is a light, not the books, the blight siblings - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:36:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,680</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26984191</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reyna_is_epic/pseuds/Biting%20Words</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Absent, cold, and stoic are all things that the moon has been called. All titles that the moon has earned through centuries and centuries of its silent vigil. Never acting, never intervening, no matter what happened across Earth's surface, but always watching. Always observing.</p><p>Always mourning.</p><p>"Why?" One of the sisters asked, dressed in red from head to toe, her hair a shock of white protruding from the top of her skull and falling over her shoulders in an unruly mane. "Why us?"</p><p>The moon sighed, and its voice was none of the things that it had been called. None of the titles it had so rightfully earned.</p><p>Because there is no one better equipped to protect the children of the world.</p><p>_</p><p>Rise of the Guardians AU (sorta)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amity Blight &amp; Edric Blight &amp; Emira Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne &amp; Luz Noceda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>231</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Dawn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this is loosely based off of the rise of the guardian movie, read: LOOSELY. </p><p>A lot of the plot points and characters are not going to be completely similar so don't get your hopes up, and I'm going to be playing fast and loose with some of the world-building in order to make something that I think is more cohesive and fun. That being said, enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The first thing that Luz was aware of was the sun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, not quite the sun. It wasn’t like she opened her eyes and just stared into the celestial orb glaring down at her. If that were the case she’d of probably gone blind before she even had a chance for anything else to happen, and then who knew how everything would’ve turned out? Maybe it’d have gone better.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Or worse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Probably a lot worse, now that she thinks on it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regardless, the first thing that Luz was aware of was the sun, or more accurately, the sunrise. The darkness of night, the cold blackness and infinite stars slowly giving way to the tendrils of light just beginning to make their way over the distant horizon. Clawing their way over the backs of mountains, dotted with trees, fighting towards its eventual zenith that it would reach hours and hours later. Right now, it was just a sunrise, barely beginning its never-ending climb.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Beautiful</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Indeed.</b>
  <span> Someone, or something, answered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz whirled around, searching for the speaker, but found nothing, only endless night sky beginning to turn grey as the Sun chased away the darkness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello?” she called, questioning. There was no answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz blinked and then turned back to glance at the sunrise once more. The horizon was beginning to turn a wonderful orange colour, staining the tops of trees and turning the sky into a gradient. It stretched across the entire sky, slowly stealing stars away with its might.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>A child of Light… of course, how… convenient.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz whirled once again, still finding no speaker. Just the remnants of the stars and a full moon stubbornly clinging on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She felt a frown pulling at the corners of her mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Whoever is there, this isn’t funny!” she called.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A chuckle, startlingly warm, answered her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Oh dear child, it never is.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz blinked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You… where are you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could feel it, whatever it was, smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Look up.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moon stared back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Yes.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz stumbled backwards, or she would’ve, but she quickly found that there was no ground beneath her feet to trip over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was nothing beneath her feet, actually.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was floating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The thing, </span>
  <em>
    <span>the moon,</span>
  </em>
  <span> laughed. Warm and kind and all the things she never would’ve associated with a literal celestial body miles and miles away from the Earth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Wait, how did she know that the moon was miles and miles away from the earth?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>How did she even know that was the moon? Or that she was on the earth?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Or that she’d been watching the sunrise?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>How did she know anything? She didn’t remember learning it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She… didn’t remember anything… </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>I’m sorry.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moon spoke again and Luz glanced back up at it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re… sorry?” she questioned. The moon did not reply, not verbally, but she got the impression that it would’ve been nodding if it could.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sun was still rising in the distance, still painting the sky with its morning glow, turning the stars to nothingness and the clouds to magnificent blues and purples.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>My power is waning. </b>
  <span>The moon said after a couple minutes of extended silence, of Luz marvelling silently at the rising sun.</span>
  <b> I can save less of my guardians every time.</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz blinked and glanced back up and the moon, and she felt startled when she realized that the sun was slowly stealing it away too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guardians?” she asked, but the moon did not answer, and she was forced to watch as it slowly faded from view.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leaving her alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the sky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With the sun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moon never spoke to her again. Luz spent… she didn’t really know because she quickly learned that though she knew what time was in an abstract sense and could read both clocks and calendars, that it was largely irrelevant to her. Days, weeks, months went by and she never aged. She never grew hungry, or thirsty, or tired. She never even had to use the bathroom, or cut her hair, or her nails. It was if she’d been stopped. Paused. Eternally fourteen, though how she knew that was how old she was never truly occurred to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz spent a long amount of days, and nights, trying to find the moon or places where she could see the moon. It took a while to figure out how to move in her strange, floaty state of being, and once she had she quickly found that making it to Outerspace was a no-go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that, she went the logical other direction for answers, other people, only to come to a startling conclusion:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could not interact with them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That first afternoon she’d spent running around a small town and trying desperately to grab and shake someone into noticing, only for her fingers to go straight through them. Only for them to walk directly through her body, their eyes always staring straight through hers, her pleas falling on deaf ears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> She’d left that evening to go sulk in a cave with her newfound invisible existence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Only to find out that animals could see her when a bear chased her out of said cave.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Those first few years-- and she only knows they were years because of the change in calendars-- had been filled with lonely trial and error. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No one could see her, no one could hear her, but she could still interact with the environment. (She had scared the hell out of a couple of people trying to use markers and such to converse with them, apparently, that was too similar to horror-flicks).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could fly, seemingly endlessly, but go any further up than about aeroplane height and she’d find herself trapped by what she could only describe as a barrier of some sort. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was how she discovered that she didn’t need to breathe. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’d then spent the next expanse of time exploring the world’s oceans because, hey, when you don’t have to breathe and are immune to pressure changes, then what else are you gonna do?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was how she discovered that she could apparently glow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so on and so forth. One discovery led to another adventure, which led to another discovery in turn. Years went by, and sure, maybe Luz was no closer to figuring out what exactly was going on or why she could do what she could do, but she had found out some pretty neat things. Like that there were fuzzy crabs that lived at the bottom of the sea, or the location of the city of Atlantis, or exactly how many licks it took to get to the centre of a tootsie-pop. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regardless of her new bounds of knowledge and seemingly infinite time to acquire it, she was also made aware of another thing:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Animals could see her, and she made it a habit to make new animal friends wherever she went, but people could not. And, no matter what you tell yourself or however much talking you do for them, animals are not people. They cannot talk back and they can only do so much listening before they get bored.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz was truly, and completely alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was several decades after Luz… what, came into being? Appeared? Was made aware? None of those seemed quite right, but there was no other way to call it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Whatever, several decades after Luz came to consciousness-- gosh that sounded dumb-- she found Eda.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Or, rather, Eda found her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been a pretty routine summer- Luz had quickly found that she preferred warmer climates to cooler ones- in Australia when Luz was awoken from her nap atop the Sydney Opera house (because where else are you going to sleep when literally no one can see you or yell at you) by a sudden and very loud ruckus.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz didn’t really make it a habit to hang around human civilization. All of the people either looking or walking through her tended to bum her out and only animals could see her anyway so it made more sense for her to hang out with them. That was what she was going to choose to blame her many years of solitude on instead of a tendency towards obliviousness or just the sheer cruelty of fate itself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She poked her head up from her nest of stolen blankets and stuffed animals to find a woman fighting with the reins to a sleigh that seemed to be pulled by a colossal array of owls.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For the love of all things holy, I will cut back your feed, you overgrown hummingbirds!” The woman shrieked, yanking upwards on the reins and receiving a chorus of “HOO!”s in response.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care if you’re tired! We’re in the last leg of the course and I am making record time! Lily’s gonna owe me big-time when I make it back before her!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After years of solitude and decades of being ignored, you couldn’t blame Luz for her next course of action.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stood from her sleeping place, calmly floated over to the sleigh, and started to poke around. The woman froze, but Luz didn’t notice, instead, she coasted towards the front of the flock of owls and began to smooth down the ruffled feathers of each and every one. Each grew quiet beneath her fingertips, soothed by the gentle warmth emitted from there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There ya go,” she muttered as the last of them rumbled against her hand, begging for more scritches that she was happy to oblige in. She wasn’t sure why someone would be arguing with an entire flock of owls, or bother tying them to a sleigh, but she was deciding not to question it. “Now are you guys going to be nice for the screamy lady?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The owls chirped in agreement and she chuckled at their enthusiasm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh, didn’t know that Aussieland had gotten themselves a new guardian…” the woman muttered and Luz glanced over at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was… strange, to say the least. Tall and wiry with a big poof of white hair that fell over her shoulders and all the way down to her hips which were wrapped in the softest looking red-fabric she’d ever seen. The sleeves had either been cut off, or ripped off of her dress, going by the frayed hems at where they met her shoulders, and it appeared to be stitched in several places. Her skin was pale and, in the moonlight, appeared to glow, along with her golden snaggle-tooth and piercing golden eyes that somehow seemed to meet her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz hummed in curiosity and floated up to the woman. She was mesmerized when she found that the woman’s eyes appeared to follow her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a first…” she found herself muttering.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s a first?” the woman asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz felt gravity suddenly start pulling on her once more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She landed at the woman’s feet with a loud whump and a startled squeak, only to be met with a cocking of the woman’s head that was distinctly bird-like.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You good, kid?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz squeaked again, this time jumping backwards.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The woman’s brows rose and her hands followed in surrender.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ok, geez, I didn’t mean to scare you,”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz could feel all of the air rushing out of her lungs despite her lack of need to breathe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You-You can </span>
  <em>
    <span>see </span>
  </em>
  <span>me?!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The woman’s eyes widened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit,</span>
  <em>
    <span> new</span>
  </em>
  <span>-new guardian!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The flock of owls let out a chorus of coos at their master’s raised voice, apparently snapping the woman out of her curiosity and subsequent surprise. She glanced back over at them and grit her teeth before glancing back at Luz.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit. Uh, Kid, I’m kinda in the middle of something… you know where the north pole is? If you just head up that way I’ll catch up later and-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz stared at the first person in literal decades- in almost a century- who had spoken to her, who was <em>currently</em> speaking to her, and she felt the sudden and overwhelming urge to cry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No!” she launched herself forwards and wrapped her arms around the woman’s midsection. To her amazement, she didn’t go straight through.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The woman stiffened, and then a hand came down to rest on the top of her head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, it’s okay, kid… not everybody knows all the cardinal directions…?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz would’ve laughed if she wasn’t too busy marvelling over the fact that she was touching another person. She was in physical contact with someone who wasn’t made of fur, scales, or feathers. Tears started to escape her despite her best efforts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No…” she whispered, “please don’t leave me alone…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The hand on her head, the one that had been trying to gently pry her away from the woman’s dress, froze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“... how long have you been out here, kid?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz struggled to pull her gaze up, breaths ragged from poorly contained sobs. The gaze she was met with contained something between anger and a bitter resignation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seventy years…” she whispered, barely managing to force the words through the sobs, and watched as the woman’s expression turned to steel. The hand atop her head tightened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Slowly, deliberately, the woman raised her head to gaze at the distant moon, barely a sliver on the horizon. Her teeth glinted in its light like fangs, her brows pinching in a scowl.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn it, Manny…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moon did not respond.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally, the woman sighed, releasing her grip on Luz and instead reaching down to haul her back up to her feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look, I don’t really have time to give you the full brief right now, but just…” rather than turning away, she gently pushed Luz into her sleigh, “Sit back and enjoy the ride, and I’ll explain everything when we get back to the pole, deal?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>The sleigh was moving before she could even think a reply.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Rising Sun</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luz was in shock.</p><p> </p><p>Was that a thing that she could do? She doesn’t need to breathe so why would her body obey any other laws of biology? Does she even qualify as human? </p><p> </p><p>Those are all questions for another day.</p><p> </p><p>Regardless, her body was not quite obeying her, despite her best efforts. The ride on the sleigh seemed to last nothing more than a few seconds but simultaneously dragged on for years. It was like the entire world was twisted up into a pretzel and then shoved over her head, leaving little room for her to try and unscramble the mess of emotions rampaging through it.</p><p> </p><p>She had been seen, had been heard, had been touched.</p><p> </p><p>She was still being seen, heard, and touched.</p><p> </p><p>Eda, because that was what the woman had introduced herself as: Eda the Owl Lady, had settled her at the back of her sleigh-- pulled by owls twice the size of her entire body-- just before they began zooming across the world at speeds that would’ve made a normal person explode simply by proxy. Occasionally, she’d stop the sleigh, mount what looked like a bazooka over her shoulder, and fire into the sky, sending rains of colourfully wrapped packages into chimneys and through open windows. Then she’d yank on her reigns and go charging over to the next firing spot.</p><p> </p><p>It was… overwhelming… to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>So you could forgive Luz if asking questions wasn’t the first thing on her mind, she was too busy trying to sort out what the hell was going on to even think about it. Her mouth felt like it’d been glued shut and there was no chance she’d be able to pry it open any time soon.</p><p> </p><p>However, just as she’d managed to crystalize a thought-- mainly just being: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-- the sleigh came to an abrupt and violent stop, nearly sending her catapulting out of it. One of Eda’s gloved hands snapped outwards and wrapped around her ankle, tugging her back into the sleigh before she managed to hurt herself.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry about that, I got limited juice these days so landings have to be kinda rough,” the older woman said by way of explanation and Luz just tried not to think about how many more questions that created rather than answered.</p><p> </p><p>She managed a nod-- somehow-- and Eda responded with a toothy smile and a pat on the back.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s the spirit! Now,” she released Luz and threw her hands outwards, “welcome to the North Pole!”</p><p> </p><p>A glittering tower of ice sprung before her eyes and Luz almost went tumbling out of the sleigh again.</p><p> </p><p>Calling it massive would’ve been a disservice. It was easily the size of a glacier and that was probably what it was made out of as well, each wall, each parapet, each tower was constructed of the crystalline substance, turning the entire complex into a shimmering jewel as the sun fought its way over the distant horizon.</p><p> </p><p>Luz had seen a million sunrises and sunsets in her life. A million times, a million ways. She’s seen the sky lighten, the clouds turn to cotton candy, the orange and gold fight their way into the sky, one fledgeling little ray at a time. She’s watched the cold winter light struggle to warm the earth, and the scorching summer sun chase away night’s pleasant chill. A million different sunrises, none like this:</p><p> </p><p>None where the sun touched the beginnings of the earth, and it lit up in response. </p><p> </p><p>A crystalline web of dewdrops and icy hands, reaching for a distant orb of light it would never reach despite its best attempts. Forever searching for a light that would never grace it with its touch.</p><p> </p><p>Luz watched, awe-struck, as Eda lifted her hand towards the palace, her ring clutched between her thumb and forefinger. A beam of refracted light caught on its surface and Eda gently angled it downwards so that it entered a small, unforeseen hole, and out of the colossal mound an entrance began to open up.</p><p> </p><p>A tunnel of ice stretching outwards to meet them.</p><p> </p><p>Eda smiled a wicked smile and pressed a button on the side of the sled that made all of the reigns holding the owls to it snap. </p><p> </p><p>A collective “HOO” rang out and Luz, having hardly recovered from her first almost-fall, was quickly bowled over by their frenzied escape into the tunnel and the rafters thereafter.</p><p> </p><p>A loud cackle followed her down.</p><p> </p><p>Luz slowly, and painfully, removed the arms she’d clapped over her face to shield it from the onslaught of feathers to settle Eda with her best glare. The ‘Owl Lady’ didn’t even notice. She was too busy wiping tears from her eyes as mechanical-looking arms shot out of the tunnel-- which was rapidly becoming a room as it stretched overtop them, blocking out the sun, and started to close against the ice behind them-- and began rubbing dirt and debris off of the sleigh.</p><p> </p><p>“You could’ve warned me…” she grumbled and Eda’s laughter abruptly cut off.</p><p> </p><p>“She speaks! I was beginning to get worried.” One of her gloved hands came down to clap Luz on the shoulder and Luz had to resist the urge to jump out of her skin at the contact.</p><p> </p><p>Gosh, were humans always this touchy?</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yeah, I talk…” she managed to splutter out as Eda lifted her to her feet with her single gloved hand. She didn’t even look mildly inconvenienced. </p><p> </p><p>“Well good because you’re gonna have to contend with the others to get a word in edgewise.”</p><p> </p><p>Luz felt her brows shoot upwards.</p><p> </p><p>“Others?”</p><p> </p><p>Eda grinned. Her golden tooth caught in the rapidly disappearing sunlight as the Ice started to swallow it whole.</p><p> </p><p>“The other guardians, of course. What, did you think you were the only one?”</p><p> </p><p><em>Yes</em>.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh-”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t answer that kid, I want to have at least a little faith left in Manny by the end of this.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, Eda began shuffling the both of them along the pathway of the tunnel. The further they went the more the sunlight seemed to fade and a strange blue glow rose from the depths of the palace to replace it. It seemed to beam up through the floor, though Luz could not spot its source.</p><p> </p><p>“Who’s Manny?” She decided on asking, eventually. Silence never was her favourite thing, she’d proven that over and over again. Thankfully, Eda’s hand hadn’t left her shoulder during the walk, otherwise, Luz fears that she’d have started to wonder if this was a dream.</p><p> </p><p>Eda’s eyes, in the dim blue glow, are slowly becoming more silver than gold. She watches as they harden.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you get any explanation when you became a guardian?” she asks instead of answering Luz’s question. </p><p> </p><p>“...no…?” </p><p> </p><p>Eda sighs and the motion actually causes the hand to drop from Luz’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>Panic immediately sparks its way up her back.</p><p> </p><p>“Jesus Christ Manny, you really dropped the ball on this one.” The words are mumbled-- growled really-- and probably not meant for Luz’s ears as Eda looks up at the ceiling to glare at some unseen figure when she says them, but Luz still can’t help but feel like the annoyance is her fault somehow.</p><p> </p><p>“The- uh- the moon said- uh- that he- she? They? were sorry?” She tried to volunteer.</p><p> </p><p>For some reason that just made Eda’s scowl deepen.</p><p> </p><p>“Did they now?”</p><p> </p><p>The tunnel was starting to widen out and the blue glow coming from the floor was reaching an equilibrium of sorts. </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… uhm… they said something about… their power dwindling… or something like that…” Luz trailed off because the scowl was starting to slide off of Eda’s face, replaced with an expression of exhaustion that seemed almost alien on a person who must’ve been like her. </p><p> </p><p>Right? That was what this all meant, right? There were other people out there who were trapped in this weird in-between?</p><p> </p><p>Not for the first time, Luz wondered if maybe she was a ghost.</p><p> </p><p>But then why couldn’t she remember her life?</p><p> </p><p>Eda sighed.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t say I blame him there. Belos’s attacks have been affecting all of us… I guess it was just a matter of time before he started affecting the moon too…”</p><p> </p><p>Luz’s eyes widened.</p><p> </p><p>“Attacks?”</p><p> </p><p>Eda winced.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s, uh, kinda a lot to explain. Look, let’s just get you introduced to the others, then we can start dumping the whole ‘The End is Nigh’ schtick on you, huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Luz blinked, rapidly.</p><p> </p><p>“End is-”</p><p> </p><p>“HERE WE ARE!” </p><p> </p><p>Eda thrust her arms forwards, nearly whacking Luz across the face, to show off their destination.</p><p> </p><p>A large common room of sorts, carved entirely out of ice.</p><p> </p><p>The ground floor itself was a cavern, large posts just a few feet from the walls held up the loft. Large tunnels and staircases branched off of the room in so many different places it was hard to tell what was a wall and what was a secret entrance. Soft-looking furniture was dispensed all throughout, abandoned books, toys, papers, socks, shoes, and other assorted items were thrown in for good measure.</p><p> </p><p>Most impressive was the massive hearth on one side of the room that looked to be burning inside the gaping beak of an Owl, eternally screaming as blue fire burned bright within it.</p><p> </p><p>The entire room was surrounded by Ice so many layers thick that the only light came from the hearth and the large diamond-shaped skylight in the centre.</p><p> </p><p>Just the barest edges of the sunlight were starting to peek through.</p><p> </p><p>“Welcome to the Owl House.” Eda let her arms drop to rest on her hips, an immensely proud expression pulling across her face.</p><p> </p><p>Luz stared.</p><p> </p><p>“The… Owl… House…?”</p><p> </p><p>Eda frowned.</p><p> </p><p>“What? There’s a giant owl on the wall!”</p><p> </p><p>“What part of this screams ‘house’ to you?”</p><p> </p><p>The older woman snorted, just barely avoiding the grin that was fighting to tug at her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“Y’know, when I picked you up, I’ll admit I was a bit worried for you, but I’m glad to see that snark remains one of the defining characteristics in Manny’s choosing process.”</p><p> </p><p>Luz rose a brow, but decided not to question whatever the hell that meant.</p><p> </p><p>Eda didn’t give her a chance to anyway. Almost as soon as she’d finished speaking, the Owl Lady reached down to her belt and tugged up what looked like a whistle on an elastic-cord. She blew into it three times, each one letting out a short sharp blast that sounded eerily similar to an owl’s shriek.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, Luz became aware of just how many entrances there were to the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, exactly how many of you guys… are there…?”</p><p> </p><p>Eda frowned.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… I dunno… I stopped counting at some point…”</p><p> </p><p>Her gut dropped.</p><p> </p><p>A loud popping noise shook Luz from her panic-induced stupor just in time for her to take a hit to the face.</p><p> </p><p>“INTRUDER!”</p><p> </p><p>Something small and furry was shoved into her mouth and, as if the initial impact wasn’t enough, another small something started to pound against the top of her skull. She stumbled back two paces before finally losing her balance and landing flat on her back. The furry-little-something came with her, its little legs wrapped firmly around her jaw in order to keep itself in place.</p><p> </p><p>“MMMM!” Muffled, Luz tried to call for Eda’s help, but was only answered with a thunderous cackle.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, Luz managed to get a good grip on her attacker and pull them away, but not before she had enough fur in her teeth she was certain she’d be finding bits of it for months.</p><p> </p><p>“Release me at once, trespasser!” the little-furry-something squeaked at her, wriggling desperately within her grip.</p><p> </p><p>Luz spat out a clod of hair.</p><p> </p><p>A little black-furred creature stared back at her. It’s face looked to be carved from bone, white and matte, but smooth to the touch, and somehow pulled down into a scowl. Two large eyes peeked through, each had yellow sclera, but vibrant purple irises and pupils that seemed a bit too big for practical use. It was built like a teddy-bear, short stocky limbs and a round torso.</p><p> </p><p>It was the cutest thing she’d ever seen.</p><p> </p><p>“Ay! Que lindo!” she yelled before she could stop herself and immediately pulled the little creature into her torso for a huh.</p><p> </p><p>“Weh?!”</p><p> </p><p>Its fur was frighteningly soft and even as it wriggled in her hold she couldn’t helo but remember every little cat and dog she’d managed to befriend over the years. How much she’d depend on them for any bit of companionship she could get.</p><p> </p><p>The little creature managed to get a paw free and pushed himself out of her grasp. He immediately ran to hide behind Eda’s legs as fast as his little feet could carry him. Luz couldn’t stop herself from letting out a little coo at the sight.</p><p> </p><p>“Eda! Save me!”</p><p> </p><p>Eda was too busy wiping tears from her eyes to actually answer the little guy.</p><p> </p><p>“Eda, this better be good. You know my holiday is coming up next!”</p><p> </p><p>A new voice called from what sounded like very far underground. LUz whipped around just in time to watch a face emerge from one of many tunnels leading in seemingly infinite dimensions.</p><p> </p><p>At first glance it looked human enough, but as more and more of the creature emerged that theory was quickly abandoned. A large pair of rabbit ears rose from where a pair of normal human ones should’ve been. A girl with short, bobbed black hair and round glasses stood on a pair of what looked like legs to match. Her torso and face were human enough-- and her well-muscled arms certainly were-- but from the waist down she appeared to be entirely rabbit, even boasting the small fluffy tail just barely poking out the back of her shorts.</p><p> </p><p>The girl stopped as soon as she spotted Luz, her eyebrows rising nearly to her hairline.</p><p> </p><p>“A new Guardian?” </p><p> </p><p>“-Did somebody say new Guardian!”</p><p> </p><p>A body came quickly tumbling down from the ceiling, landing just next to the rabbit-girl in a perfect pirouette. </p><p> </p><p>It was a boy-- he couldn’t have been any older than twelve-- with dark skin and short dark hair, dressed in what looked like a cross between a ballet and figure-skating costume. His feet were bare, but boasted long, thin toes that nearly resembled a bird’s talons. A set of small fairy-like wings emerged from his shoulder blades. They either glowed or reflected the light of the fire, of which Luz couldn’t tell.</p><p> </p><p>The boy took one glance at her then let out a squeal of excitement. His wings rocketed him forwards, moving much too fast for her to see. They made a faint humming noise like that of a  dragonfly.</p><p> </p><p>“Woah! You still look almost human! That’s so cool!”</p><p> </p><p>Luz blinked rapidly.</p><p> </p><p>“I... what-?”</p><p> </p><p>Two hands landed on the boy’s shoulders to tug him away from her.</p><p> </p><p>“Let the kid breathe, Gus-”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to scare the little cutie away, now would we?”</p><p> </p><p>Two teenagers held the boy, ‘Gus’ she assumed, aloft between them, mirrored smirks aligned on their faces as they eyed Luz like someone had set a particularly juicy steak in front of them. Their eyes were lupine, bright primal gold that shone against their pale skin like jewels embedded in the snow. Both sported dark green hair, a set of sharp-looking fangs, and whiskers. The boy had a set of bat ears, while the girl (his sister?) sported a wolf’s. </p><p> </p><p>‘Gus’ wriggled to escape the two’s hold, something remarkably close to a pout making its way across his lips.</p><p> </p><p>“I wasn’t scaring her!” he protested, “I was just curious…”</p><p> </p><p>“Well y’know what they say about curiosity…” the green-haired boy grinned and his teeth flashed menacingly in the light. Beside him, his sister matched his grin before leaping into the air. Her body shrunk rapidly and changed shape as she rose and she landed upon his outstretched arm as a cat. Her fur was the same dark-green as her hair.</p><p> </p><p>Gus yelped and ran to hide behind the rabbit-eared girl who looked distinctly unamused.</p><p> </p><p>“You guys know you shouldn’t joke about that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh come on, Cotton-tail,” the cat spoke- er, mewed?- from its position on the boy’s shoulder. “Live a little! You’re starting to sound like Feathers.”</p><p> </p><p>One of the ears twitched.</p><p> </p><p>“Change back. Now.”</p><p> </p><p>The boy pouted.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re no fun.” He claimed as his sister leapt off of him, rapidly switching back to her normal size. Once she had, her ears remained those of a cat and a long striped tail now hung behind her, wagging lazily.</p><p> </p><p>“Geez, who stepped on your eggshells this morning?”</p><p> </p><p>The rabbit-eared girl rolled her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve got a holiday coming up and thanks to ‘Mr. tall dark and scary’ I’ve got about half of my normal workforce. So excuse me if I’m a bit on edge.”</p><p> </p><p>Her arms crossed tightly over her chest.</p><p> </p><p>Both of the twins’ ears lowered in what appeared to be winces.</p><p> </p><p>“Is that what we’re calling him now?”</p><p> </p><p>Another voice called out from the far side of the room and they all turned as a literal angel came out of the dark.</p><p> </p><p>She wasn’t very tall, certainly not as tall as the twins, but something about her screamed power that was unmatched by any of the other people in the room. Perhaps it was the set of towering golden wings perched over each shoulder, maybe it was the wicked-looking bow hanging between them, or the crimson arrows resting in a quiver strapped to her thigh. Unlike the others in the room, she was dressed old-fashioned, with a waistcoat and slacks, covered by knee-high boots and elbow-length gloves each of an expensive-looking leather. Her hair was pulled back from her face in a half up half down style that showed off the strong set of her nose and sharpness of her cheeks. It was almost bird-like.</p><p> </p><p>“You got a better nickname?” The rabbit-eared girl asked the newcomer, something akin to a smirk just barely lifting the corners of her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, as long as it’s not something tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum came up with I’m game.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” The twins chorused.</p><p> </p><p>The angel stared them down, deadpan. </p><p> </p><p>“‘Feathers’ isn’t exactly original.” She spread her wings just a little for emphasis. The individual feathers gleamed in the fire-light.</p><p> </p><p>Someone cleared their throat.</p><p> </p><p>They all whirled around to see Eda, having finally collected herself, with the fluffy little creature from earlier perched on her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“If you’re all done…” she drawled before reaching out to offer Luz a hand up. “We can actually introduce our new friend here.”</p><p> </p><p>Six pairs of eyes zeroed in on Luz and she was suddenly filled with the urge to curl into a ball and sink into the ground. </p><p> </p><p>It was overwhelming, really. Having so many people being able to see her, being able to hear her, being able to just exist next to her and acknowledge her presence. She felt like her head was spinning. She resisted the urge to hide behind Eda.</p><p> </p><p>Barely.</p><p> </p><p>An awkward grin pulled over her face and she offered a sheepish laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, hi…?”</p><p> </p><p>Silence.</p><p> </p><p>Eda nudged her.</p><p> </p><p>“I- uh,” she stuttered, “I’m Luz…?”</p><p> </p><p>More silence. </p><p> </p><p>Eda frowned.</p><p> </p><p>“That… that’s it?” She asked. </p><p> </p><p>Luz really wanted the ground to open up and swallow her now.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yep. Just… just Luz…”</p><p> </p><p>The angel frowned.</p><p> </p><p>“Just Luz…” she drawled, slowly crossing her arms over her chest. Her scowl was impressive.</p><p> </p><p>Luz swallowed and took a step back, but nodded mutely.</p><p> </p><p>They all glanced between each other, looking equally confused and concerned.</p><p> </p><p>The angel’s eyes narrowed. She made to step forward but the bunny-eared girl clapped a hand on her shoulder and held her back. Gus’s eyebrows were pressed together as well, but he looked more thoughtful than angry.</p><p> </p><p>“No title?” he asked after another moment of confused silence. When Luz shook her head, he turned to look at Eda. “How long has she been a guardian…?”</p><p> </p><p>Eda winced.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s the worrying part…” she muttered.</p><p> </p><p>That got everyone’s attention.</p><p> </p><p>Eda sighed, then gestured for everyone to sit down.</p><p> </p><p>“Get comfy kiddos, it’s storytime.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Morning Light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Once upon a time, there was light and there was darkness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now the thing is, light and dark are not opposites.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sure, they’re contrasting, and they don’t typically get along, but they are connected. Interwoven. One cannot exist without the other. If there is light there has to be darkness, and vice versa. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At least that's what the moon thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The truth of the matter is it is only light that needs the darkness, darkness does not need light. Darkness without light is just darkness, but light without darkness does not exist. As long as there is light, there will always be shadows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That confusing enough for you?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Good.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Light cannot exist without darkness, so it should be no surprise to anyone that the dark came first. The world was once an eternal night, and even as humans and other creatures came to rise on its surface, there was still no light to guide them. Fear ran rampant, a force that no one could ignore, and no one could escape. A force that all of humanity was slave to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then, out of the darkness, out of the fear, out of all that was, came courage. And from courage, came light.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moon was born from the comfort of a parent to their child, a father or mother who loved their child so much that they swore they would light the darkness so that their child could always find their way. Thus was born, the first guardian:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The Man in the moon, guardian of family.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moon was only the first of many, and over the centuries more and more guardians were born, selected by the moon themself, so that the children of the world would always have someone looking after them, something to light the darkness of the night and the fear that it brought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The darkness, the fear, wasn’t happy with this development, its grip over humanity was slipping and with it, its power. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So it took matters into its own hands and created a Guardian of its own, or rather, a Conqueror:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos, the embodiment of fear itself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thus began a war, one that humanity would never see, as light and darkness fought for control over the earth. For a while, they were matched, and the war raged silently in the background as humanity grew and flourished across the earth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then, something changed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No one quite knows how, or why, but something changed, and Belos grew stronger. He attacked the guardians, and he managed to steal one of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then another.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And another.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And another.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Belos, the personification of fear, snuffed out some of the world’s lights, and in the process, the war began to shift.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>We were losing, and badly. More and more guardians went missing until only 8 remained:</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>King, Guardian of friendship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edalyn, Guardian of hope.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lilith, Guardian of Forgiveness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Augustus, Guardian of Curiosity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow, Guardian of Memories.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Edric and Emira, twin Guardians of Fun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Amity, Guardian of Love.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“At least, until you showed up…” Eda’s expression was hard to discern. Luz couldn’t quite tell if she was concerned, confused, suspicious, or had smelled something particularly foul. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the so-called guardians were just as bad, though some were easier to read than others. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The angel, Amity apparently, was scowling like someone had just suggested that she should dye her wings green.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gus, Augustus if she had to guess, looked contemplative. Every few seconds his wings would flutter anxiously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The twins were exchanging glances, their ears rising and lowering as if in conversation with one another.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Only bunny-girl’s, Willow’s, face remained unchanged. Her arms crossed over her chest, but nary a twitch of the brow or frown of disapproval in sight. Her ears remained perfectly still, statuesque.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda let out a particularly heavy sigh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Several decades ago both Belos and Manny suddenly vanished. It was strange, not to mention a bit disconcerting. Belos had been plaguing us for years and stolen a good portion of our friends, but one day he was suddenly gone, without a trace. And then Manny went silent.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Expressions around the room darkened. Luz felt more and more like she just wanted to sink into the floor and cease existing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I find you, and you tell me that you showed up seventy years ago, and Manny told you his power was dwindling…” Eda’s eyes, now firmly silver rather than gold, soften, “and then you were alone all that time…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally, Amity’s eyes widened, but much further than their normal proportions.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seventy years?!” she questioned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That got the others’ attention.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both twin’s ears shot upwards, perked in curiosity. Gus started muttering to himself, Willow’s brow pinched in something akin to concern.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>King finally came out from his spot hiding behind Eda’s leg. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz’s arms came up to cross over her chest and her shoulders rose in tandem. Her hands locked onto both arms until she was essentially hugging herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda nodded, slowly and contemplative. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, then I think it’s safe to assume that Belos’s disappearance, Manny’s radio silence, and your appearance are all connected.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bone-chilling, tense, empty, familiar, silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Familiar in all the wrong ways.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz wasn’t sure why, but the chills that rushed up her spine had nothing to do with the building made of ice that they all stood in. She could feel the breath in her lungs and how it was threatening to speed up, how she knew that it wouldn’t make a difference even if it did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She didn’t even need to breathe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>None of them did. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did Manny tell you?” Willow finally broke the silence, her hands finally uncrossing. One rested on her hip while the other hung at her side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz jumped at the sound, unused to being addressed directly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, uh, he- uh- he said- that, uh,” she stuttered and she hated how much she did. It had been so very, very long since she’d spoken this much and in front of this many people. “That he- he uh- he said that-” she let out a grunt of frustration.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Willow stepped forwards, hands risen like she was approaching a frightened animal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here,” she offered her hand, “show me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz blinked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m the guardian of memory,” she reiterated, hand still extended, “if you give me permission I can look through yours.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She said it so casually, so innocently, like she was offering to get her a library book rather than look through seventy years worth of her most private and isolated thoughts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Part of Luz wanted to scream at the very thought, wanted to curl into a ball and hide. It was the same part of her that was urging the earth to come up and swallow her, that was begging her to turn tail and flee.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another part, the part that had seen Eda looking her dead in the eyes and started crying, was shouting at her to grab that hand and never let go. It told her that she had been alone for so very, very long, and this was her chance to finally tell someone about it. Her chance to finally connect, to not be alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two wrestled for an extended moment, during which Willow remained watching her. Slowly, a gentle smile pulled across her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I promise I’ll be careful. I’ve looked through everyone’s memories at least once.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz glanced around at the other guardians, receiving nods in return.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally, with a sigh that felt almost foreign and very unnecessary, Luz reached out a shaking hand to take Willow’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Warmth rushed through her body, taking with it the chill of the earlier silence and stealing all of the apprehension and nerves from her. She almost collapsed, but Willow caught her, gently easing her into a sitting position.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, you’re okay,” the softness of her voice, the reassuring warmth of her arms, Luz wanted nothing more than to sink into it. Slowly, but surely, Willow pulled away, leaving her to slump in the chair she’d been lowered into, exhausted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow straightened and turned back to the remaining guardians.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well…?” Eda asked, expectant.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow took a moment to compose herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Manny said that he could only save a part of her- he…” she trailed off for a moment, then glanced at Luz with sad eyes, “he said he could save less each time… whatever that means…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing on why he disappeared?” Emira shifted her weight and her brother quickly did the same so that they were opposite each other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If I had to guess,” Gus broke in, “Manny probably used up the last of his power to create another guardian.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silence. Luz found that she hated silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then that leaves another question…” Amity’s eyes had narrowed once more. That sharp avian scowl directed at her like she was staring down the shaft of an arrow. “What makes you so important that Manny would risk disappearing in order to create you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz gulped. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before she could begin to stutter a response Eda rose a hand, effectively silencing her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hold your horses there, Feathers-” Amity’s scowl deepened at the nickname, “I know you and Manny were all buddy-buddy, but we all know that sometimes he can be kinda…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Unpredictable?” King volunteered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eda shrugged, “I was gonna say ‘a little shit’ but yeah, that works too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity scoffed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Me and that old coot were not ‘buddy-buddy’,” she rose her hands in finger-quotes before dropping them back down to her sides, exasperated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We were just familiar with each other, and I know he wouldn’t have done anything like this without a good reason. Given that Belos went missing around the same time that he went silent and she-” she jabbed a finger in Luz’s direction, “appeared, I just think it’s all a little too… convenient.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Amity.” Willow’s voice was low, carrying with it a degree of warning that sounded suspiciously like a mother talking to a child.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity threw up her hands. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just saying! No one else thinks it’s a little suspicious that Manny, the physical manifestation of light, of all goodness, went quiet right after she was-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He called her a child of light.” Willow cut her off, voice still that low, dangerous tone.  “Not a child of darkness, and I’ve never heard him refer to any of </span>
  <em>
    <span>us </span>
  </em>
  <span>that way.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity flinched like she’d been struck, her wings fluttering behind her as if resisting the urge to take off. Beside her, one of the twins, Edric, had to duck to avoid getting smacked by them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willow’s expression softened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Amity, we all want Manny back, but-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-don't-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-jumping on the first person we find for something she didn’t do isn’t going to help us find him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity looked like she wanted to argue, and the considerable amount of fluff that her wings had created certainly lent itself to that theory, but her jaw clenched so tightly that Luz thought she could hear her teeth creaking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A loud thud shook the cavern and the long, darkened pathway that Luz and Eda had entered through was suddenly illuminated. Blue light, far, far down it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lily’s back…” Eda muttered, her eyes never quite left Luz’s face. “She’ll be able to check if lightning-bug over there is an illusion or not, if that’s what's got your feathers in a twist.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz felt herself stiffen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought that you said he disappeared...” she meant it to be a question but it barely came out as a whisper. Her voice sounded hoarse to her own ears. Willow reached down to pat Luz’s head </span>
  <span>reassuringly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He did, but his minions didn’t. He stole some of our friends, but others…” she trailed off, looking uncomfortable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He corrupted them.” Emira finished for her. Her characteristic grin suddenly nowhere to be found, Edric’s hand gently came to rest on her shoulder. Amity’s feathers, which had just begun to smooth down, fluffed once again. Gus took a sudden interest in his shoe-less feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Corrupted…?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All guardians have a bit of the Moon’s light inside of us,” Eda’s voice was tired, whether that was from spending all night hopping across the globe to distribute presents or this conversation was anyone’s guess. “That’s what keeps us alive, gives us our powers, but Belos… At first he just stole our lights. Smothered us in darkness until it gave out. Eventually, he figured out how to replace them. He turned our friends against us, and with him and Manny gone, we’ve yet to figure out how to turn them back.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Their corruption spreads,” Gus’s eyes are still firmly affixed to his talon-like toes. “If they can get in close enough contact they can take you too. Recently, they stole Willow’s workers.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz glances up at the bunny-eared girl, but her expression betrays neither sadness nor anguish.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eventually they’ll steal us all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The silence that hung this time was heavy enough to suffocate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Footsteps on ice are a strange sound to begin with, mostly because it almost sounds like footsteps on tile, but there is a bit of a higher note to it. Luz isn’t sure how she knew, but if pressed she could identify it as a C, and the sound of footsteps on tile is closer to an A.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t know why she knows that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Regardless, the sound wasn’t a familiar one, and it easily broke the heavy silence as the aforementioned ‘Lily’ rounded the bend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was a tall woman, with jet black hair and piercing silver eyes. Much like the Owl Lady herself, her features were sharp and avian, her ears poke out from either side of her head like an Owl’s tufts. However, the first thing to catch Luz’s eye wasn’t the stern expression or the beak-like nose. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was the black stain upon the woman’s otherwise green dress, and how it seemed to be growing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The others were upon her in an instant, quiet, hushed voices urging each other to remain calm, or help Eda carry her over to a more comfortable surface. Luz watched, feeling very much like an unwanted observer, as fear ran rampant over the seven of them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The woman’s skin, already pale, was almost translucent, the dark stain upon her dress appeared to be writhing, pulsing, growing, as she was set upon a sofa not too far from where Luz was seated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something… moved in Luz’s chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gus, fetch me a vial of-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re out,” Gus whispered, looking like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, “we used the last of it on Willow after she was attacked.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A curse flew from Eda’s mouth. Her expression was thunderous, murderous even. One of Lilith’s hands rose to clutch onto hers, her expression pinched in discomfort.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s back-” she hissed, and the room stilled. Lilith’s eyes are wide pinpricks deep, deep within shining silver. “He’s back-” She broke off as her body seized, muscles gone taught and eyes rolling back in her head. The dark-something on her chest exploded outwards and Eda was forced to stumble back lest she fall prey to it as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, Luz’s feet found the floor, and she was standing once again, moving before she’d even thought to do so. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The darkness screamed, shrieked a horrible unearthly sound and Eda lashed out her arm, a staff of wood with a golden light atop it appeared in her hand. She brandished it threateningly and the darkness shrunk back, if only a little.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kids, get out of here,” the words were little more than a growl. Behind her the twins exchanged glances, Gus was already halfway off the ground, Willow had a hand fixed firmly upon Amity’s shoulder and looked to be the only thing keeping her from springing forwards.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>King rushed forwards and wrapped his small little stubby arms around Eda’s leg.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not leaving you!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not kidding, get out! Take the new kid and go to Gus’s, we’ll regroup-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The darkness let out another shriek and dived at the distracted owl lady. Eda whipped her staff around so that the darkness hit the glowing top first and was forced to jerk backwards.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Amity tried to step forwards, but Willow yanked her back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on,” she was dragging Amity backwards, but her gaze was firmly affixed to Luz.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz wasn’t looking, however. She watched as the darkness lunged after Eda again, and again, and again. Each time all it got for its trouble was another mouthful of light and a grunt of effort from the woman in question. It should’ve been reassuring, that Eda clearly knew what she was doing, but Luz couldn’t help but notice that the light on the end of her staff was getting dimmer with each strike.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Luz!” Willow shouted. The others had all but retreated at this point, each lurking by their respective escape routes, each hesitant to leave.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The darkness let out a final shriek and dove at Eda, the blast of light that emitted from her staff barely lasted a second, and then snuffed out. The moment it did, the fire went dark as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz didn’t think, she acted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her feet kicked off the ground with more force she knew she was capable of, and she plunged into the darkness headfirst.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a shout that followed her, though she wasn’t sure from who, but it was quickly cut off as the darkness surrounded her. The world turned murky, far away like she had submerged herself far, far underwater. That something that had begun moving in her chest burst outwards and light came with it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It felt like a can of soda had been shaken up within Luz’s chest and the pressure was finally released. Light poured from every inch of her body, exploding outwards with a vengeance. The darkness didn’t even have time to cry out before it was effectively silenced, turned to nothingness in the face of Luz’s light.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She landed on her feet, still effectively glowing, and watched as the dark stain upon Lilith’s dress slowly melted away, leaving behind a tired but intact woman.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luz released a sigh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then she collapsed.</span>
</p>
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